You Are an Influencer
This post has been sitting in my drafts for a while, and I’ve been hesitant to share it just because I haven’t felt like it “fits” with the rest of my content schedule. But I’ve been thinking about these topics more than ever lately, so it feels like it’s time.
I have this nerdy habit of overthinking the meanings of words. Like if a word is a popular buzzword in modern usage, I’ll start thinking about the original meaning and evolution of the word, and how that applies to how we’re using it in the modern context. I’ve had three of those words in my head lately.
The first is the word “influencer.” Because I’m not sure what to call myself as “someone who posts content on social media with the intent of reaching a wider audience than my friends and family.”
There are a lot of possible words for that and “influencer” is one of them. In a social media context, it specifically refers to people who use their platform to partner with brands and “influence” people to buy their products.
But if you google the definition of the word itself, you’ll also find a more timeless definition: “a person or thing that influences another”
Which obviously makes no sense until you look up “influence:”
“the capacity to have an effect on the character, development, or behavior of someone or something, or the effect itself”
So if “being an influencer” means having an effect on people, then yes, that’s definitely what I’m trying to do. I wouldn’t be sharing on social media at all if I didn’t want to have an effect on someone - hopefully an eternal effect.
In fact, I think we’re all influencers.
We all have some effect on the behavior of the people around us.
Maybe it’s your friends, or your kids, 40 social media followers or 40,000, but I can guarantee you’re an influencer to someone. Let’s make sure it’s the right influence.
Next word: curate. Heard often in critiques of how social media is so curated and filtered and edited, instead of authentic and real.
But where else do we hear the word “curate?” I think of a curator of a museum, or curating an art collection. Google says it means to “select, organize, and present.”
If my Instagram feed looks curated, it’s not because I’m trying to make my life look prettier and more put together than it actually is. It’s because I’m trying to highlight all the beauty that actually exists. I’m not trying to say there’s nothing hard or messy or ugly in my life; those just aren’t the things I’m choosing to focus on.
This makes even more sense if you think of content creation as art. Creating any form of art is all about curating and selecting what’s most beautiful.
When I start a blog post, I usually just start typing and word vomit all my thoughts onto the page, then go back and edit, edit, edit. No one would say I’m being inauthentic because I correct my typos, finish my incomplete sentences, and generally make sure it’s all coherent. In fact, the editing process is to make it a truer and better expression of the thoughts in my head.
I think it’s the same with filters and edits on Instagram. I don’t use filters to make my pictures more beautiful; I use them to try to bring out the natural beauty of a blue sky that the camera just doesn’t capture. I’m not trying to make them look better than it looked in real life; I’m trying to make it look more similar to real life.
Curation is not about making things appear more beautiful than they are. It’s about making it easier to see the beauty that’s already there.
And finally, social media. I’ve actually thought about that word “media” before. It’s the same root word as “medium” or “mediator.” Basically it means something that’s in between, in the middle, bridging a gap. In this case, it’s a thing that is between people, connecting them. It’s mediating our relationships.
And if you think about it, all human communication is some form of mediation - even face-to-face speech. All communication is an imperfect expression of the thoughts in our head, which we aren’t always able to put into words. I think a lot of human conflict throughout history has come from some fault in the medium of communication, and social media is just the newest expression of that.
In fact, maybe the problems with social media have less to do with the “media” part, and more with the “social.” The fact that it involves people. We blame a lot of problems on a thing that’s only been around for a decade or two, instead of on the human issues that have existed since the beginning of time.
Social media is just a tool for connecting with people. Those connections can be wonderful and healthy and useful, or they can be toxic, fake, and dangerous. But at the end of the day it’s just a tool like speech or the telephone or the printing press, and what matters is not the tool itself, but how you choose to use it.
What’s my point with all this? Well, I feel like I’ve heard all three of these words/terms used in somewhat anti-social media contexts.
“You shouldn’t buy that product just because some influencer was raving about it.”
“Instagram is so curated and fake.”
“Social media is ruining the world” (Okay, not everyone is that extreme about it, but you get the point.)
It’s wise to be cautious with these things, but sometimes we take it too far. So here are some things to remember:
We’re all influencers. We all have the capacity to have an effect on the people around us, so let’s be really intentional with how we use our influence.
If curating means to “select, organize, and present” content that’s true, good, and beautiful, I’m all for it. I think it’s possible - and necessary - to be authentic and honest without being completely unfiltered.
Social media is a tool that mediates human relationships, and last I checked those are pretty important. If you personally feel like you can’t use it in a healthy way, then by all means stay off of it, but let’s not make blanket statements about how it’s the biggest problem in society. More likely people and their sin are the problem, and the solution for that is Jesus, not getting rid of social media.